The referee looked toward Winona and announced, "Participant Winona, you have thirty seconds to send out your next Pokémon."
Winona didn't respond immediately.
Instead, she lowered her gaze slightly and spent several seconds considering her options, carefully weighing which of her remaining Pokémon would give her the greatest chance of winning the decisive battle.
The stadium fell unusually quiet as thousands of spectators waited for her decision.
After roughly ten seconds, Winona nodded to herself, having reached a conclusion. She picked up a Poké Ball and threw it onto the battlefield.
A brilliant flash of white light burst from the Poké Ball.
When the light faded, Altaria stood proudly on the battlefield, her large cloud-like wings gently swaying as she calmly looked across the arena toward Alex and his Pokémon.
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Pokémon: Altaria
LV: 61
Type: Flying/Dragon
Abilities: Natural Cure
Gender: Female
Potential: Shallow Diamond (3%
Moves:
- Astonish, Dragon Breath, Growl, Peck, Pluck, Sing [E], Sky Attack, Fury Attack, Safeguard, Disarming Voice, Mist, Round, Natural Gift, Take Down, Refresh, Dragon Dance [M], Cotton Guard, Dragon Pulse, Moonblast
- (Perfect Talent) Perish Song [M], (Perfect Talent) Dazzling Gleam [M]
-(TM) Protect [E], (TM) Toxic, (TM) Roost [M], (TM) Earthquake [M], (TM) Substitute [E], (TM) Facade [E], (TM) Roar, (TM) Fly, (TM) Fire Blast [E], (TM) Aerial Ace [M], (TM) Dragon Claw [M]
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Alex wasn't particularly surprised that Altaria was the next Pokémon Winona chose to send out.
After quickly reviewing the situation in his head, he realized that she didn't really have many other good options. Her remaining Pokémon lacked the power to reliably defeat Gardevoir in a single exchange.
From Winona's perspective, allowing Gardevoir to survive and potentially claim another knockout would be disastrous.
Altaria held a three-level advantage and possessed more than enough raw power to defeat a Gardevoir that had already been heavily weakened and was now sitting at less than half her HP.
Alex could completely understand the reasoning behind the choice, he still couldn't agree with it.
Altaria was by far Winona's most important Pokémon.
It was not only the strongest member of her team but also the Pokémon around which most of her best strategies revolved.
Risking that Pokémon against a powerup Gardevoir felt dangerous.
Altaria had a 4× weakness to Ice-type attacks. If Gardevoir happened to know an Expert-rank Ice-type move, the situation would become extremely risky.
Three boosts from Calm Mind dramatically increased Gardevoir's Special Attack, and a super-effective Ice-type attack had a very real chance of knocking Altaria out instantly in 1 hit.
Alex found himself wondering what exactly Winona was thinking.
Had she somehow concluded that his Gardevoir didn't know have a Ice-type move on the expert or master rank?
Or was she deliberately making a calculated gamble, betting that he lacked the specific coverage move needed to punish this switch?
No matter how Alex sees it, this was an extremely risky move and a bit reckless in his opinion
The referee raised his hand and shouted, "3, 2, 1, Go!"
Alex and Winona said nothing, but both Pokémon began preparing a move without waiting for commands.
It seemed that at this level, most trainers were relatively skilled tactically and no longer made the mistake of wasting time shouting out their moves at the start.
Gardevoir finished first because her move had an extremely short setup time; she used Teleport to get as far away from Altaria as possible.
Alex wouldn't have minded losing Gardevoir if it meant dealing heavy damage to Winona's ace Pokémon, but that didn't mean he shouldn't try to get more out of the situation.
So, after the Teleport, he telepathically gave Gardevoir a new command: "D2."
Altaria didn't move or fly toward Gardevoir while preparing her move.
Alex also noticed that it was taking a bit too long to prepare a standard Master Rank move.
He immediately suspected a combo move or an Expert Rank move.
Altaria finally finished and used Substitute, creating a decoy body made of energy around itself.
Alex realized the situation was becoming a bit dangerous, yet he maintained a calm expression. Although the move caught him a bit off guard, it came at a cost.
In this world, Substitute draws upon the user's vitality, causing damage upon activation—a drawback that persists even at the Expert or Master Rank.
Gardevoir also finished preparing and used Calm Mind.
Altaria began preparing a move while simultaneously flying toward Gardevoir.
Gardevoir also started preparing a move but didn't budge from the spot.
Altaria finished first and used Dragon Dance, making her already impressive speed even greater.
Winona smiled slightly as she realized everything was going according to plan. Although she felt a faint, uneasy knot in her stomach—finding it suspicious that things were going too well against someone known as the "Master of Tactics"—she chose to ignore the feeling.
Gardevoir also completed her move and used Reflect, erecting an invisible barrier that automatically followed her.
This special barrier blocked only physical attacks, and even then, it didn't block them completely; instead, it absorbed half the energy.
However, the barrier was not destroyed after blocking a move and could greatly reduce the damage from multiple moves.
Gardevoir, who had started preparing her move later, was the first to have it ready; she used Teleport to warp to the opposite side of the arena.
Altaria also used her move: Roost. Then she immediately made a U-turn and flew at top speed toward Gardevoir, who was beginning to prepare another move.
Both Pokémon started preparing their moves.
Both moves were ready, but since neither opponent was within range yet, so neither Pokémon unleashed its move.
It didn't take long, however, for them to come within range of each other.
Gardevoir struck first, using Dazzling Gleam, which destroyed the Substitute.
Altaria used her move as well. She used Aerial Ace instead of Earthquake, even though Earthquake had a chance to knock Gardevoir unconscious in close-quarters combat.
Although it looked like a mistake, Alex thought it was actually a very clever move.
Using Earthquake against a Psychic-type Pokémon capable of using psychic energy to levitate is risky; it only works if the Psychic-type doesn't see it coming.
Gardevoir was hit but didn't take much damage, retaining about 20% of her HP—though she wouldn't be able to withstand another hit like that.
Altaria began preparing another move, but this time she flew away from Gardevoir as fast as she could.
Seeing this, Alex immediately realized what Winona's plan likely was and quickly called out telepathically , "Gardevoir, use Teleport to block her path! Then..."
Since Gardevoir had been preparing Teleport from the start, she didn't need to prepare a new move; she simply had to change her destination—a trivial task for her.
She instantly teleported to a spot ten meters in front of Altaria, directly in the path of her flight.
Altaria looked slightly confused and, for a moment, didn't know what to do.
Winona realized the situation was becoming dangerous and called out, "Plan B—quick, Altaria!"
Altaria reacted as fast as she could, canceling her Substitute and immediately beginning to prepare a new move.
Gardevoir also started preparing a move as quickly as possible; since she didn't have to cancel an existing one, she was slightly faster.
Alex and Winona watched the arena intently, even though both knew what was likely about to happen.
Gardevoir finished first and used Dazzling Gleam, dealing massive damage to Altaria.
However, Altaria was not yet knocked out; she had approximately 10% HP remaining. This hit almost defeated her in one hit.
Altaria's move became ready, and she used Aerial Ace once more.
Gardevoir tried to dodge the attack, even though she knew it was nearly impossible. She was hit and fell unconscious to the ground.
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if the story total of 100 powerstones in 24 hours, I will upload 1 bonus chapter tomorrow.
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